Defending champion Stan Wawrinka stunned in first round

Stan Wawrinka in Dubai yesterday. Pic/AFP

Dubai: Holder Stan Wawrinka was sensationally dumped out of the Dubai Tennis Championships yesterday as his form collapsed following an early 4-1 lead. The Swiss three-time Grand Slam winner was beaten 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 in the first round by outsider Damir Dzumhur. Wawrinka was playing for the first time since suffering a right knee injury at the Australian Open a month ago, where he reached his eighth major semi-final.

And following defeat by the 77th-ranked journeyman from Bosnia-Herzegovina, he said, "I started well but it was tough because I was missing a little bit something. In practice it was starting to be ok the last few days, but today I was missing something."

Despite his exit, Wawrinka said that his knee was giving him no pain. "I need to focus on myself. I need to practise more in order to do better and to in turn expect some good results," Wawrinka said. "I'm unhappy to lose first round. It's tough, because I played well here last year. I was happy to be back on the ATP Tour after a month. I was excited and I wanted to do better this week. But the result is not there," Wawrinka added.